Plans for subdivision not out of woods yet

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), Robert Gold THE NEWS-TIMES

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, June 17, 2006

NEWTOWN - After twice getting town approval to build a subdivision on 28 wooded acres near Hanover Road and The Boulevard, a Monroe developer can't start construction because of a second lawsuit filed by nearby homeowners.

Residents Kevin and
Robin Fitzgerald
filed suit earlier this month against the town's planning and zoning board and developer
Robert Mastroni
.
The couple argue that Mastroni's Hanover Heights development - eight single-family houses - should not be built for several reasons, including breaking the town's regulations about building on property with steep slopes and not giving the public a chance to comment on a changed open space plan.
"I'm just amazed I have to go to this point,"
Kevin Fitzgerald
said about the lawsuit. "Somebody had to do it."
The town approved developer Robert Mastroni's first plan for Hanover Heights in January. The Fitzgeralds sued, saying residents were not properly notified regarding town meetings.
Neighbors argued that the plan would destroy open space and would include removal of a century-old red barn. The developer's plan included selling the barn and possibly relocating it.
In May, the town's planning and zoning board approved Mastroni's slightly revised plan, which would give the town more than two acres of open space and $69,000 to buy open space in other areas of town.
The original plan had 15 percent of the land as open space. The Fitzgeralds' new lawsuit argues that the change was not properly discussed in public.
Robert Fuller
, a Wilton attorney representing the town, declined comment because he hasn't received the lawsuit yet. Mastroni could not be reached for comment.
Earlier this year, the Fitzgeralds encouraged the town to buy Mastroni's property to protect it from development. The couple offered to let the town use some of their property to connect an open-space path from Hanover Road to Lake Lillinonah.
First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said the town explored the option of purchasing Mastroni's land, but the price was too expensive because it was already approved for subdivisions.
The Fitzgeralds, town officials and Mastroni are scheduled to be in court in late July.